At the time of the assembly of motor vehicles on a production line, the steering column must be introduced from the passenger compartment through an opening in the bulkhead separating the passenger compartment from the engine compartment.
In one known type of steering column, the bearing housing has to be fixed to a bulkhead collar by means of a flange on the bearing housing which is connected to the collar by threaded fasteners. This requires the bearing housing and the collar to be at a set angular relationship in order to engage the threaded fasteners and it is usually necessary for an operator to reach into the footwell of the passenger compartment to align the bearing housing and tighten the fasteners. This operation requires a certain skill and flexibility of the operator and can have real ergonomic issues for the operator.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved arrangement of bulkhead collar for a motor vehicle steering column.